She Who Holds the Cipher
by LadyD312
Summary: Quite often, Caen Shepard is mistakened as a stray dog of the military. She smiles and does all the things a normal being should. But her files say otherwise. What people don't know is that those files tend to be awfully truthful, and at some point, Shepard is going to turn into the relentless monster it describes. They just don't know when. AU!
1. Mission Parameters

_'New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.' -Lao Tzu_

* * *

"Two-hundred."

"_Two-hundred?_ That's it?"

"Two-hundred _thousand_, Narl. You didn't let me finish."

"Heh…I call your bluff girl."

The woman leaned forward, harsh tangerine lighting dancing across her sienna skin. Her lip curled with an amused smirk, the scar on her full lips suddenly becoming noticeable. With ebony hair spiked into a Mohawk, and pearl white daggers shimmering, she looked about ready to kill someone. Those slate grey—near silver—eyes and shrunken black pupils didn't help with bringing out her 'innocent' side.

Narl, after sighing and rolling his four eyes, sat back into his chair as he mulled over the offer made to him. It was hard to figure this female out. Being human had nothing to do with it; he knew her for years now and even when they worked together it was hard to tell when she bluffed. But there was something about Shepard that made taking the chance worth the while. Even if it did cost him two-hundred thousand credits. Well…shit. No real man backs down from a challenge like that, now does he?

The batarian rolled his shoulder, desperately trying to get rid of the ache seeping in. "Alright…I'm putting in," a large gust of air went into his lungs. "Two-hundred fifty."

"Thousand?" Caen confirmed with a tilt of her head.

"Thousand," Narl growled as he narrowed his eyes. "Now show your fucking cards."

The human raised one eyebrow before turning her head to study him in a side-long glance. He hated it when she did this; toying with him. She knew it got his blood pressure rising. "Okay, I'm going to show my cards, _verrry_ carefully….In three…two…two and _hallfff_—"

"Damn it, Caen! I have fucking trades to make!"

And suddenly, they were flipped over. And suddenly, he could feel himself getting pretty fucking angry. And suddenly, he wanted to punch that little smirk on her face in. But all Narl could do was sigh and nod, flicking his wrist towards her. His credit chit skidded across the table, landing in front of the smirking female. He stood, securing his weapons to the seals on his back.

"Same time next year, Narls?"

"Narl; yeah, same time. Don't forget your next appointment with me either. We all know you can't take care of that crop of fur on your head."

Siobhan pouted as she ran her fingers through the shaved hair near her ears. "It just doesn't like me," she mumbled, arms crossed over her chest. The batarian chuckled turned and flashed a grin her way.

"Can you blame it, Jay?" He snickered. "You're kind of a pain in the ass."

That was all it took to make those slate grey—near silver—eyes shine. "'Kind of', huh? Is it safe to say that I've grown on you, little man?"

"Don't let your panties set on fire just yet, kid. You've got a long way to go before I actually want to be around you." _Yeah_, he thought with an unreadable expression. _Maybe just a little, Jay._

The dark-skinned woman propped her feet onto the used poker table, watching the batarian take his leave. There were no goodbyes, or friendly smiles. Just competition, racist remarks, money, information, and a bottle of batarian ale. Nothing complicated ever happened.

But then…nothing was ever simple either. Not for Shepard.

. . .

"Welcome aboard the Normandy, Commander."

Shepard nodded and flashed a small smile at the man. _What was his name again? Aiden? Kelly..? K…K… Um…_ Anderson appeared by her side, face blank. "Commander, I see you've met Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko." She raised a brow as her eyes widened.

"I knew it was a K!" She hissed under her breath. A victorious grin stretched on her face. As she looked up, the two men regarded her with confused expressions. "Uh—Nice to meet you Lieutenant," her hand moved towards the biotic. Kaidan took it in his own, his hand easily covering hers. _Really?_ She thought.

Anderson chose this time to clear his throat. "Commander, might I have a word with you in private?" Shepard tilted her head as Alenko saluted and ran off to…somewhere. The Captain gestured to the elevator behind them. They moved together, two deadly soldiers with powerful gazes. Once on the elevator, Shepard leaned against the railing. "I'm guessing this will be more than just the average chit-chat, Captain."

"Actually, this will be pretty short, but I need you to hear me out on this one. Our mission is to take the Normandy on a test run, put her through her pacers. The Alliance and the Council wants to see if the human and turian engineering is something really worth pushing for. Now, before you—"

"Wait, wait!" She held up both hands; this was getting wayward too quickly. "The Council? What the hell does the Council—"

"I would tell you if let me finish," the Captain growled. Shepard huffed defeat. "Ahem, as I was saying. The Council wanted to make sure that what the human and turian engineers did is worth pushing for. So they sent someone to make sure the process works out fine."

He smiled a little as the elevator opened. "Ah, here he is now."

There was nothing that made Shepard pissed like height. People who were taller than her were automatic enemies. And this guy was definitely taller than her. She scowled at the turian with white markings. "Commander Shepard, this is Spectre Nihlus Kyrik." The turian raised his chin, the let it drop to his cowl.

"A pleasure, Commander," his three-fingered hand was held out expectantly.

The commander fumed as she stepped out of the elevator and shook his hand. _Oh fucking shit! He's a whole head taller than me! Maybe two!_ Slowly she inhaled as the hand-shake ended. They should be leaving the Sol System in a few days, but apparently Anderson had some loose ties to take care of. More like hooker appointments to cancel, she thought with a snicker. "If you'll excuse me," Anderson said, taking his leave.

Her mouth dropped to the floor. She had to be left alone? With slim-jim?! _Fucking shit, fucking shit. Okay Caen, just handle this verrryyy delicately. _

"Okay, well….I've got shit I gotta' do so uh…Yeah." The human disappeared down the hall, leaving a very amused Nihlus behind.

"Commander Caen Shepard," he murmured under his breath. "She's the perfect candidate for our cause."

. . .

Sometimes Joker wonders why he took this job. Or why, exactly, he hasn't tripped and shattered his face on this ship yet. Damn turians and their angular schemes! He shifted in his seat, uneasy with the pair of eyes trained on him. She was right there in the left co-pilot seat just...watching him. Shepard jolted slightly as he lifted his hand to cough into it. Jeff finally turned to look at her, his emotionless face meeting hers.

"Uh...Everything alright, Commander?"

Shepard narrowed her eyes, bared the fangs in her mouth as she snarled, "Just fine, Lieutenant."

He expected that, really. But did she have to walk around with those monsters in her skull? "Okay, then-"

"How come you never leave the seat?"

His green eyes snapped to her in shock. "What?"

Shepard shifted in her chair, turning her entire body to him as she continued. "You never leave your seat, not even when commanding officers are on board. You're supposed to get up and salute. Yet you didn't."

Joker blinked momentarily, ultimately just choosing to shrug this one off. "Brittle bones don't exactly allow for much room to move," he sounded bristled by the topic when in all honestly he felt that this wasn't a reprimand.

"Oh."

"'_Oh?_' That's it? You sure you don't want me to recite my file? Call in a list of recommendations? Hey, maybe a blood test if you're feeling fancy." Now he's just fucking around and they both knew it.

The Commander snorted opening her omni-tool to send him a ping. In return, Joker's omni-tool lit up like neon signs in the night and he turned a raised brow on her. Mimicking him from earlier, Shepard just shrugged. This time she stood though, stretching her limbs. "Save my seat, yeah?"

Joker flicked a hand in her general direction. "Sure, whatever."

"I mean it! You're the first real friend I've made on this ship! Well, besides Anderson and... Nope, you're the only one. With a Council Spectre aboard, it leaves me very little wiggle room to get around."

"Speaking of which, what do you think he's doing here?"

"Meh, hell if I know. Anderson is being pretty stoic on this one."

Joker snorted, "I bet."

"I guess I better get back to it. Thanks for the talk, Lieutenant Moreau."

He winced, feigning a painful hiss. "Joker, actually."

She turned last minute to flash a bright smile. "From Batman! I like it."

Shepard vacated the premises, leaving Joker to ponder his chances of flinging himself off the hull of the ship and surviving. Slim to none, he realized, since he could just hit the dock below it. And anyway, he probably would just die from the exhaustion of all the shattered bones shifting around. Wait, could he even get to the hull of the Normandy? Joker decided this would need some rethinking.

Meanwhile, Shepard burrowed into a make-shift home in the darkest corner of the ship. She pulled a palm-sized cube from her duffel bag and sat down on her cot to stare at it. It glowed as she brushed her fingers over a small indent marked around the corners. The metal cube glowed angelic white as it played the audio recording.

_"This is Commander S-S-Shepard, A-alliance Nav-vy! Requesting immediate extraction of civilians from Elysium. I repeat, immediate extraction from Elysium-m! Confirmed Batarian raiders a-are ground s-side. My team...d-didn't make it. Please, if anyone can hear this, send for the A-alliance._"

Shepard stared at the cube's form until her eyes began to burn from the intensity of the light. She eventually shut it off, murmuring the words as she drifted into a thirty minute slumber.

_This is Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy._

_Requesting immediate extraction of civilians from planet Elysium. _

_Confirmed Batarian raiders are ground side. _

. . .

Nihlus studied the vague profile in front of him with a sense of mystery. How could one woman- dare he say, _child_- hold off a hundred batarians? On official record, Commander Shepard had been listed as a formidable N7 Vanguard. If he knew anything about Vanguards, they enjoyed working in close quarters. They had the tendency to carry around shotguns and not much else. He analyzed the circumstances; she couldn't have eliminated the resistance on close combat alone, she would have died. And it wasn't likely that she had many weapons or a lot of ammo on her either; she and her team were on shore leave.

The Spectre directed his attention to the enemy at the time. They were well equipped, those batarians, since they were apart of the Blue Suns. At least seven ships dropped off an average of fifteen strike teams a pop. Each strike team consisted of eight men. He sighed as he skimmed through file after file. Even before his interests in Shepard, he'd never crossed a file as vague as hers (when he left Saren out of the count). Nihlus couldn't even imagine how the situation down there must have been. Losing your team to a rigged transport in the first fifteen minutes of the assault. Attempting to secure thousands of civilians who had no military training whatsoever.

_Spirits, Shepard. I don't even know your entire story- hell I don't even really know you and I already want to drown myself in a bottle._

He supposed he could ask her, but that would raise suspicion. And Caen Shepard tended to be awfully suspicious. _I'll have another look at these files. Maybe take a word with Captain Anderson. He knows her better than her mother does, I bet._

Even amidst the unnerving reports and several recommendations, he found himself reconsidering a few things. Not exactly about Shepard, just Humanity as a whole.

Nihlus leaned back in his chair, turned in his omni-tool and pinged someone he hadn't spoke to in several long years. She answered on the third dial. Probably dealing with Eclipse.

"_What._" Tone curt, edged, though not in nervousness. Just the overall irritation. Ah yes, Eclipse indeed.

"Aria, I have a prospect for you. You might actually take a liking to this one."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Just to clarify, Caen is pronounced like 'sane'. Shepard is indeed a Vanguard who went through the Skyllian Verge shit-storm and is an official space brat. A paragon diplomat when it counts, but has the rare occasion to shoot people for the fun of it. And this story gets very AU, not in a crazy way, but still. It still sticks to the main storyline, but I wanted to mix this up and make it its own unique story.

Thank you for reading and constructive criticism is always welcomed! Especially with establishment of characters through tone and voice. Thanks a bunch!


	2. Framed Network

_By definition, memoir demands a certain degree of introspection and self-disclosure: In order to fully engage a reader, the narrator has to make herself known, has to allow her own self-awareness to inform the events she describes. _~Caroline Knapp

* * *

Anderson squinted at the report that scrolled across the main monitor located in his quarters. He hummed thoughtfully, gently swiping his calloused thumb across his chin in a back and forth motion. Without moving his gaze from the text, he called out to the darkness, "Classified."

A moment passed, maybe two, before a young Commander broke apart from the shadows to enter the hazy, blue glow of the screen.

"Wasn't gonna' ask about that, actually," Shepard explained as a natural biotic discharge rolled through her and momentarily illuminated her form in the darkness. "Wanted to know where we're heading to test the Normandy."

"You'll know soon enough, Commander."

Shepard narrowed her eyes at his still posture as the blue glow highlighted the creases of old age and bloodshed carved into his face. She snapped her eyes to the partially opened case that neighbored his desk. Really it was just to mask the annoyance.

"Fine."

"Nothing should be hectic, Shepard. Besides, you need to take some shore leave; relax, have a drink."

"I did that before I boarded the ship."

"Six hours on a '_military shopping spree_', as you like to put it, doesn't count."

"Complain all you want, Captain. I still refuse to go drinking with you and Sanders ever again." He turned an amused look in her direction, which boiled down to a grim expression as she continued. "We both know that the Alliance tests covert projects- important projects- under V.I. and A.I. hands in automated simulations before they allow an entire crew- with lengthy, colorful files- use said project. And even if they did, the Council would not have allowed a decorated turian Spectre on board without full knowledge of the capabilities and the test report on this damn ship, sir. So I know there's more to this than you're letting on but I won't push you. It wouldn't be the first time I've been left in the dark."

The Commander sighed, running one hand over her face in order to keep the biotics at bay. She turned heel, left, leaving Anderson staring after her in open shock.

Shepard trudged past the mess hall, flicked a warp at the Med-Bay door to open it and strolled in to sit on a bed. Karin Chakwas glanced up from her terminal to look at the Commander with a sense of motherly concern.

"Don't tell me you've had a surge already," Chakwas called from the her desk. She turned in her chair to search one of the drawers for Shepard's medicine.

"No, I just-" Shepard rubbed her face in irritation. She already unsettled the pilot. Anderson didn't need the whole ship scrambling for information. "It's nothing. Had a bad dream and I just remembered it."

Chakwas clucked her tongue, striding towards the biotic and handing her the medicine. At once, Shepard unwrapped the candy delight and tasted the lollipop. She sighed, leaning back onto the bed.

"Thanks, doctor."

"Of course, Commander. Now since you're here, about that check-up-"

She bolted upright from the bed and trotted to the door. "On second thought, I should go." Shepard had the intentions of sauntering right out the door and into the cargo bay until she ran face first into the chest of Nihlus.

"Oh, Commander, I was just-"

"Shit, I didn't see you there-"

They halted in their speech to awkwardly meet gazes. Nihlus pulled himself to his full height as he made a quick apology. Shepard shrugged him off in a manner that was more cautious than nonchalant. "Something you needed, Spectre?"

He shook his head, extending a hand to the world outside the med-bay which she took as permission to haul ass. For a turian, Nihlus had no trouble keeping pace with Shepard. She briskly walked to end of the pod chamber and turned to him, her face expectant.

"What did you need?"

Nihlus chuckled lowly, always the mischievous bastard, as he took a step closer to Shepard, reaching a hand out. She bristled at him, but steeled herself as he didn't touch her; no, simply feeling the air around her as it cackled, hummed with energy of biotics.

"You're a biotic," he drawled.

"Good catch! Are all Spectres this slow to respond, or is it just you?"

"Temper, Commander, temper! Wouldn't want to risk a diplomatic incident, now would we?" Shepard flung her head at him. That movement seemed to stir something inside him because his vibrant green eyes narrowed and he looked about ready to strangle her if necessary. A heated moment that would mark the beginning of a friendship. Nihlus broke the tension, settling his three-fingered hand onto her shoulder.

The human sniffed.

The turian tilted his back in question.

She responded by charging her fists full of biotic energy.

Now that caught his attention. As a Spectre who regularly took missions, Nihlus had had his fair share of battles with creatures from across the galaxy; he narrowly escaped a Justicar. He peered closely at her hands because the overall violet glow possessed a faint crimson edge. It startled him, for lack of better words, and he calmly retracted his hand to gage her.

"_**Uh, so, when you guys are done with the 'old west' stare down, I kept your seats warm as you both requested**_," Joker interrupted over the hail-COM. "_**Thank you for flying Alliance Airways where we try to keep the sexual tension to a bare minimum**_."

Shepard's biotics dissipated from sight as she visibly relaxed. Nihlus offered his arm despite himself to which she growled and stalked to her locker to begin pulling on her armor. The turian kept his gaze on her a moment too long, then made his way to the bridge.

By the time Shepard made her way up, fully equipped, Nihlus was heading out after throwing a compliment over his shoulder to Joker.

"...call me paranoid."

Kaidan shook his head at the pilot. "You're paranoid. The Council has a right to send someone to look after the project they funded."

Before Joker could retort Shepard stepped in, "They only watch projects that are valuable in some shape way or form."

"So you're saying the _Normandy_ isn't?"

"No, I'm saying that when the Captain suddenly changes the mission objective to actually landing somewhere, and then requests his ground team to wear bullet proof vests under their monkey suits, someone is hiding something."

"Thank you! Someone with an inquisitive mind!" Joker flipped his hands in the air then jerked forward to place them back on the control panel. He turned his head back to grin at the Commander. "So-"

"_**Status report, Lieutenant.**_"

The pilot frowned at the use of formalities, trying to keep ahold of his virtual dignity. Anderson somehow managed to obliterate it every time he spoke to him. "Boards are green, Captain. Stealth systems are engaged and she's moving like a charm."

"_**Good. Find a COMM boid and link us to it. I want reports sent back to the Alliance before we touchdown on Eden Prime.**_"

All three of the officers on deck shared a look. _Eden Prime, huh? _Joker smirked, setting his course.

"Aye, aye, Captain. And brace yourself, sir, I think Nihlus is heading your way."

"_**He's already here, Lieutenant**_." Well, there went his dignity. "_**Tell Commander Shepard to meet mein the COMM room for a debriefing.**_"

"Yes, sir." The connection closed. "I'm guessing you caught that, Commander."

"Yup, but just in case, have him on speed dial. Never know when you could get lost on a ship the size of a pencil." Shepard leisurely made her way to the DR, stopping to chat with anybody and everybody on the way.

Joker spotted the L2 biotic chasing after the Commander with his eyes. He made a noise akin to gaging. Kaidan whipped around, his face catching fire and all the pilot could was laugh.

"Dude. Seriously?"

"What I was just-"

"Staring at the Commander's ass, I know."

"I wasn't-"

"You're right, 'staring' is a creepy term. More like, '_blissfully admiring_'. What do you think? Too hanar for your tastes?"

"_Joker!_"

. . .

Shepard was currently swimming in a pool of stupor. Anderson and Nihlus conversed enthusiastically; deciding which missions to collaborate on, how to incorporate the Normandy. Hey, trail out on the Traverse for a few weeks. They were bound to catch dozens of crime lords! She gritted her teeth at them. She felt betrayed by this man who, out of trillions, she called father. And he just threw her, head first, into a political shit-storm for 'the good of humanity'.

Fuck humanity! She just had to restrain herself from killing Nihlus not even twenty minutes ago!

"Like hell he is."

Her murmur had not gone unnoticed as they both examined her. Anderson prodded the beast first, "What was-"

"I said, _like hell he is_. If you think that I'm just going to lay down and take it up the ass for the good of humanity-"

"Commander Shepard!"

"Then Nihlus can go fuck himself." The turian in question flickered his mandibles in an amused expression as the renegade side of this woman decided to show. Perhaps those files held some sort of truth of her antisocial, chaotic methods.

The Captain opened his mouth, to yell at her, no doubt, but Joker beat him to the punch. Shepard briefly wondered if he did this in flight school..

"_**Captain, sudden transmission from Eden Prime. You'll want to see this one, sir.**_"

The Captain settled for silent reprimanding as he nodded at the projection set. "Play the transmission."

This particular vid immediately started off in a deeper level of hell as soldiers scrambled to dodge what appeared to be plasma bolts exiting the guns of unseen forces. The man relaying the situation barely had time to finish as he jolted, paralyzed from the bullet that struck him and fell somewhere dead off screen. Joker explained how there was no further transmissions after this one. Which meant one of two things.

One; shit got out of hand in a matter of minutes and soldiers couldn't cut across to the COMM tower to give an update.

Or two; everyone is pretty much dead.

"A small strike team can move in quickly to assess and disable these... mercenaries," Nihlus thrummed the word. "Where should we meet?"

"Cargo hold," Anderson flickered his eyes to Caen, set his hand on her shoulder. She sighed as she met his gaze. Nihlus left to go get his equipment. "I know this isn't... Look, we'll just have to discuss this later. Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up. You'll be hitting ground side."

Shepard did just that, only to find Jenkins limp in an unconscious pulp, slumped in the corner as Kaidan towered over his form. Engineer Adams winced when she approached; judging from the Lieutenant's expression, this was all just a bad accident. At the wrong time.

Accident, nonetheless. So she eased back the urge to biotic slap him around the entire ship.

"Don't tell me Alenko," he jerked upright at the sound of his name tumbling off of her scarred mouth. "He wanted to see you do a trick, right?"

Kaidan vigorously, not trusting his voice.

"And someone startled ya'," another nod, "and then you transported him into the wall."

"Yes ma'am, I-"

"No time. Come with me; we're hitting ground side on Eden Prime."

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

As Anderson trudged downstairs to give them the one-two, he raised a furry brow at the absence of Jenkins. "Out cold," the Commander explained. "Doc said he won't be going anywhere with those broken bones for months." Kaidan winced in reaction, looking entirely apologetic, but stayed silent as Shepard had told him to.

"Great. Joker! Forget the first drop-point, head for the second!"

"_**Understood, Captain.**_"

Nihlus rounded the corner, shotgun in hand. "What's going on?"

"We lost a squad-mate for the ground team. You'll have to go with them.

"I move faster on my own."

Anderson shook his head, "This isn't the time for a debate, Spectre. Go with Shepard and secure the beacon. Look at this as an excuse to assess the battlefield with a team." And by that, he meant to see Shepard go to work against her enemies, live shot.

He couldn't really argue with Anderson on that. When Joker approached drop-point two, he flared his mandibles at Shepard telling her to be responsible since 'the mission is hers now'. She grunted, arming her sleek, silver shotgun in one hand. Their boots hit the earth known as Eden Prime, unknowingly killing critters as they walked about.

Years from now, she would wonder how things would have turned out if Kaidan hadn't been frightened by Engineer Adams and gotten Jenkins injured. The possibilities would be endless, all ending in different scenarios. She simply could laugh at all the different universes it may or may not have created.

Right now, she is the young Commander Caen Shepard- possible Spectre candidate I might add- whose mission is to secure the Prothean beacon containing chilling knowledge.

And I?

I am only know as Syndicate.

My only goal is to tell of her story.

How she came to be and how she ended.

* * *

**AN:** Okay, so I just wanted to provide some background filler these first two chapters. Which means that I'm going to assume we've played the game (why would you be here if you didn't?) and skip/twist the parts we've heard probably a thousand times. As I've explained before, this story is AU! and I'm taking it in my own hands. With that said, chapter three and beyond is where our adventure officially begins!

Thank you for reading, and reviews are always welcome! Makes me a happy author. ouo


	3. Dream A Little Dream

'_I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?_' -John Lennnon

* * *

Nihlus lifted his chin as the breeze whipped around them. He inhaled gently, paused, then started to stride off down the hill. Shepard followed after checking the radio on her omni-tool and syncing up with the other males. She studied her surroundings in a gust of bravado, greeting each plant and rock to her steely gaze. Here, she relaxed despite the smell of death close by. Another fact; her nose could find an enemy before her radar did.

They pushed forward, each soldier minding how the others moved. Eventually they came along a path where corpses burnt to crisps lay.

"Huh. And you'd think you'd finally hear the end of those planetary bon-fires on the extranet." Shepard waggled her eyebrows at her squad-mates. Nihlus huffed, amused, as Kaidan cringed. She brought up her omni-tool to take a scan but the turian interjected.

"Civilians are secondary objective. They're no good dead now, anyway."

The Commander glanced back at Nihlus, nodded. "Right. Let's move."

They descended down a path that wound its way through this minute clearing peppered with rocks. No further bodies made themselves known. Shepard held up a fist, scanned the area, sniffed. Waited. She armed her pistol- a hand cannon she'd been able to buy with her poker winnings- signaled Nihlus to move forward. The air shifted under them then. Nihlus made the smart move, he ducked behind a rock instead of moving into the unguarded path.

Unfamiliar machinery whirred as it spat sizzling bullets at the rock the Spectre currently hid behind. He growled when he realized the damn thing wouldn't stop until the rock swept away and he got caught in the hailstorm.

"Hey Spectre!"

Scorching green irises snapped to daring silver-spur.

He didn't know why at this moment, but he suddenly was reminded of how much he hated the thought of returning to Palaven.

Shepard wiggled her eyebrows that seemed to be smoothly placed upon her brown skin.

"Duck!"

She didn't need to tell him twice. He kept low, catching the movement of her arm whipping around from behind. Suddenly the machine exploded into an endless storm of bits and pieces. Shepard didn't give him the chance to say anything as she skipped on ahead behind another rock some feet from his position. Alenko trekked after, sitting on the opposite side of the path, his assault rifle drawn and ready. Sure enough more of the little bastards made their way about. The turian counted three. He relayed this info back to Shepard then switched out his shotgun for the assault rifle secured on his back.

"On my word, Alenko!"

"Ma'am!"

Shepard peeked out from the rock, giggled, then shouted back at Nihlus, "Give 'em some hell, Spectre!"

He held up a hand in an affirmative, a gesture he'd thought long gone with his military career. Engaging his disruptor ammo, he peppered away at the shields of each bot before switching his focus to the next. Shepard gave the call for Alenko to make his move, which he did in civilized manner. His biotics flared once, twice; the machines were hurtled not _away_ from them, but rather _toward _Shepard. She raised her gun to squeeze three rounds into some unknown vulnerable spot. Regardless, all three of them exploded upon impact leaving a very pleased Commander.

"Not bad boys. Although you would've had your ass handed to you if you were a second late on those biotics, Alenko." She wiggled her eyebrows again to his embarrassment. Kaidan stood tall, offered his best salute.

"Ma'am, I- I understand. And it won't happen again, Commander."

Shepard, nonchalant as always, waved him off and replied, "I know you're killing yourself over Jenkins, but this isn't the time to do it. I need your 200 percent right now. If you can't give me that, you might as well be on the other end of my shotgun. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good. Oi, Spectre! I hope you're scaly ass- oh. There you are." Nihlus rolled his eyes at her as she turned her head to meet his gaze. "Any idea what these things are? They're not like any security mechs _I've_ ever seen. And even if they were..."

Kyrik shook his head. "They would have recognized you both as human. It is a human colony. I don't like this, and right now, I'm open to any and all theories."

Shepard motioned for them to move along, keeping pace with Nihlus as Kaidan walked drag. "In other words, you have your own ideas."

"Somewhat," he growled, flicking some function on his assault rifle. If it could even be called that with how sleek and toned it appeared to be. "This could all just be an invasion by mercenaries. I'd say by the look of those drones...Eclipse."

"Mm, possible," Shepard answered chewing around a ration she pulled from her pack. Which really happened to be a soda can sized pouch secured on her unoccupied right hip.

Nihlus continued. "Though I don't think I've seen a model like that despite their 'expertise'."

"No, too many holes. A few weeks ago, some Citadel reporter was covering the dismantlement of an Eclipse tech sanction. Said it would definitely set their organized crime back a few years. Although, thay entire report could have been fabricated."

Alenko coughed behind them, "Depends on which reporter sent it out."

"E. Wong, if memory serves me right."

"She's liable," Nihlus and Kaidan said in unison, turning to each other and sparring knowing glances.

"This op is too low key for mercenaries to just start showing up. Even if in a worst case scenario, that one of the colonists, scientists, or soldiers relayed info out onto the market; they couldn't have arrived without at least some minimal detection by our sensors," Shepard grumbled unhappily as she gazed longingly at the empty wrapper in her hand. She didn't use an ounce of biotics yet she already started to get hungry.

'_Anxious to start sparking through the field? You could scare off your squadmates, you know,_' her conscience teased.

The turian nodded, voicing how he believed her logic to be sound. So they were up against unknowns at the moment, just a lot of speculation to keep them momentarily sated. All it did for Caen is wound her up. The biotic amp on the back of her neck flared taint red mixed in angelic blue as another involuntary pulse ran over her body.

These shivers gave her some sort of grounding as they engaged another group of notorious drones.

. . .

Kaidan eyed the soldier waving at them, his lips pressed into this thin line of wary old man. The leader of the group, however, contrasted in her delightful expression and gleeful greeting.

"I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy! Who are you? Where's the rest of your squad? We're here to extract the Prothean beacon; where is it by the way? Any idea what happened to the tech heads digging it up? Can you give me a run-down of what happened here?"

The soldier squared from head to toe in heavy, coal armor, saluted and immediately began to answer the Commander. "Corpsmen Nirali Bahtia. I was apart of the two-twelve, Commander. We're missing a Gunnery Chief that recently transferred to another colony; other than her, the two-twelve unit... fell to well- what I believe to be- Geth squadrons," Nirali swallowed thickly, nodding at the dark-skinned woman as she set her helmet on the ground.

No one moved, not one yet willing to risk interrupting her. Especially after the word.

'_That fucking word_,' Shepard thought. Something about its nature made her spine crawl and fingers twitch.

Geth.

_Dear God_, where were these shivers coming from?

Nirali began again, mapping out the answers to the questions in her head. She arranged what happened so this new squad could make sense of what happened. "The last place I found the Prothean beacon was in the campground far ahead. The scientists... or 'tech heads', I suppose... they moved the beacon just this morning to the docks and were preparing for delivery. Not too long after that, the Geth squadrons tore through everything; the colonists, the platoons, the scientists... It did not matter whether you stood in their way or not. The last platoon had been able to report a heavily armored turian before losing contact."

Bahtia shifted her focus on Nihlus who simply remained in his leisure stance. Shepard shooed her suspicions aside, explaining how he happened to be the "Holy Spectre of Council Uptightness".

This Gunnery Chief caught her interest. "The transfer you mentioned earlier, when did she leave?"

"Nine days ago. You would have to check the records for the transfer destination."

"The Chief didn't say where she was going?"

"Feros, I think. It's a small world with many wonders. Chief Williams could just as well have been detoured and shipped off elsewhere," Nirali murmured, her Indian accent weighing down her words.

"Why's that?" Shepard tilted her head.

Bahtia hesitated for a moment. Her hands flexed on her sniper rifle, "Her name is Gunnery Chief Ashley _Williams_, ma'am. A name many are not fond of."

"Oh shit," Kaidan muttered, eyes wide. Nihlus flared his mandibles, knowing what she meant as well. How could they not?

"I don't see what a last name has to do with this, but I'll take your word for it. Anyway, we need you to show us the route to the cargo port or at least point us in the right direction," Shepard wrapped up, squaring her feet.

The soldier nodded, sharp and quick, as she took point and lead them up into the camp. On the way, the original dig site of the beacon gleamed hauntingly at them. Nirali filled in the smaller details, trying to bring as much color to the situation as possible. Shepard questioned about what Bahtia's theories may be on what the Geth were doing here. The corpsmen truly felt they were here to snatch the Prothean beacon; why else would they attack _this_ human settlement after 300 years behind the Veil?

Details were missing, clearly. Shepard felt that Nirali presented the truth for her in the barest form. In other words, she had no reason to believe that this woman posed any threat to the colonists. Shepard decided she hadn't been behind the attacks.

Strangely enough, Nihlus kept quiet during these discussions, choosing to process how the Commander went about seeking information. Perhaps a little unorthodox at first in the manner questions zipped out of her mouth faster than insults did. He think he understood why though. Caen dealt in this sort of situation before, on Elysium, except on colonist terms. She appeared to Bahtia as a bit eccentric, though her mannerisms over time evolved into slow motions as the soldier revealed more to her.

He couldn't fathom as to why it worked so well.

And _he's_ the decorated Spectre!

He spoke only once to ask, "Tell me about the turian the last platoon spotted."

Bahtia jumped momentarily (to his rumbling amusement), looking to Shepard for permission. The Commander nodded, flashing a sickening grin that displayed the teeth.

"Heavily armored with silver leather-"

"She means skin," the female biotic clarified.

"They said it looked like the turian had cybernetics," Nihlus bristled, continuing to trudge along with the humans. "Last seen giving orders to Geth units."

"You're sure?" Nihlus pressed in his best nonchalant tone.

A determined nod and a further explanation from the Corpsmen. Apparently someone by the name of Bourbon had the best pair of eyes in the Terminus. He doubted this- naturally. On one hand, he didn't feel surprised that Saren had been mulling about an attacked human colony. Spirits only knew how much he despised the varied aliens. In his other palm lay the fact that Saren might be the one behind these very attacks.

A portion of Nihlus wanted Saren to not have his head so far up his ass that he would actually pull this kind of stunt. Several different pieces agreed that if he indeed was, he couldn't let Saren jeopardize all that he'd done to secure Shepard's future in the Spectres.

Best case scenario?

This 'Bourbon' could be as blind as bat and have mistakened a Geth for Saren Arterius.

Saren Arterius; the baddest motherfucker to have ever inhaled oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.

Worst case?

He'd have to face his mentor of several years after a bad fall-out as enemies instead of friends.

Oh, and did he mention defend the very human he wanted to mentor in the way of the Spectre? Technically there isn't really a way of the Spectre, just of the Nihlus-

'_Will you quit it? You're driving us both up the wall._'

Sighing, Nihlus shifted his rifle, earning a questioning glance from the male human. '_What was his name? Caius? No, that's a name derived from Cipritine Common. Kira? Khan? ...Alenko. Yeah. Let's stick with that._'

"You okay, Nihlus?"

"I am. I'm afraid I can't say the same for the colony."

Shepard perked up. She glanced at the turian over her shoulder, "I know the geth are here, but there's a good chance that a lot of these colonists survived. They didn't hit the whole planet."

"This is regarding the turian Corpsmen Bahtia mentioned," again, he shifted the weapon in his hands. "I can't confirm or deny anything until I get a visual. This turian might be Saren Arterius."

"The Spectre?" Bahtia voiced the disbelief of all of them. "How are you sure?"

Nihlus shook his head, "I'm not. But how many turians with cybernetics do you see on a daily basis?"

"I've never seen a turian with cybernetics," Shepard commented.

"Exactly. If this is Saren's doing, then.. it might be more than just a simple raid and kidnapping of the beacon happening. Knowing him."

The Commander snorted through her nose, an action they all became accustomed to rather quickly. They approached a small camp. Alenko advised caution, as it happened to be a good place to ambush someone. Her nostrils twitched, picking up the smell of flesh. And blood.

And a hint of metallic.

"Someone's still here, all right. _If_ we find Saren, we'll question him. So check your targets. Understood?" Each soldier gave their consent.

"Awesome. Move out."

* * *

AN: Don't worry guys, we'll meet up with Ashley soon enough. In the mean time we'll get to know Nirali Bahtia! ;D I promise I didn't leave Ash in the dust guys. As I said, things are mixed up. I wonder what will happen on Feros- winkwinkhinthint. If you have anything to say, don't forget to drop a comment. Thanks for reading!


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